Valentine's Day!!!

 

Valentine's Day was even more fun than last year since Jackson was looking forward to it!  Pre school is definitely good for getting prepared for fun things like this!

 I am part of a monthly craft group (each month a different member hosts and chooses a craft to lead), and this past month's was paper crafts using the Cricut machine.  There are SO many projects you can make, but I fell in love with these little boxes!  I made one for Jackson's teacher and the pre school director, and then we filled them with extra treats like the ones we brought to school for his party. 

 LOVE the keyhole detail on the side!

 This was mostly a Pinterest craft fail :(  You were supposed to mix shaving cream and food coloring in a pan until it marbelized.  Then you press a piece of paper on top and make a print.  Then, wipe off the excess shaving cream, and let it dry.  Well, the wiping off process took off way more than I thought it should.  Then, the shaving cream never dried!  So, I cut out hearts and then laminated them!  Not messy then!

 Jackson wrote ALL of this Valentine's!  I was SO proud of him!  He got very good at writing "To," and he filled in all of his friends' names and then he drew a heart before writing his name.  SOOO cute!

 This was a box I cut for Josh using fun map scrapbook paper.  His got filled with the same treats.

"I love you Daddy."

 "(Heart) Jackson and Graham"

 This was the valentine I made to give to a couple of our friends that are younger.  The back of the tag said, "You are my main squeeze!  Happy Valentine's Day!"

 Jackson's valentines he gave to his friends!  Each plastic bag had a strawberry milk straw, a milk bottle cut out card, and two cookies. 

 The tag read, "We go together like milk and cookies!  Happy Valentine's Day!"

Jackson's party was Wednesday since he doesn't have school on Thursdays.  On Tuesday he helped me make the treats to bring for his party.  We lined a baking sheet with small pretzel twists.  Then we placed an unwrapped Hershey's kiss on top.  We melted them for just a few minutes and then pressed an M&M on top.

 Graham's Valentine mailbox and card!  His mailbox had puffs and yogurt melts in it :)

 Jackson made this at school, and I thought it was a good decoration for breakfast!

 Jackson's Valentine's Day treats!

 Pink milk for breakfast!

 KISSES!

 Close-up of my sloppy kisser ;)

 We took a walk to Redbox before lunch to rent the newest "Ice Age" movie.  Graham enjoyed his stroller ride and got to wear this super cute jean jacket Mimi bought for Jackson when he was little!

 Valentine's Day lunch: Heart cut-out sandwich.  The cut-out was filled with grapes.  And, a side of M&Ms in a heart shape!

 Snuggled up with his Valentine's puppy watching his movie :)

I didn't get a picture, but in the evening we continued our tradition of burritos for dinner!  Qdoba offers a deal where you get Buy One Get One Free if you kiss someone--excellent!

 We babysat for the Bashores tonight while they had a date, and I made a special dessert.  Have you seen that quote/graphic about how the picture on Pinterest looks so pretty, but then when you make it, it SO doesn't?  That's totally how I felt!  The kids didn't care!

This was a box of strawberry cake mix divided into three parts with varying amounts of red food coloring added.  Then, you are supposed to layer the colors with some frosting in between.  Mine didn't quite layer evenly...

Our three-day Valentine's celebration was a lot of fun, and Jackson is already asking how long until it happens again!

Yancey Baby Bee!

 

 I threw Susie a baby shower!!!  I had such a good time planning it, and I think she really enjoyed having lots of friends to hang out and relaxing while getting ready for her baby BOY!!!

  

Mommy to "BEE"  Michael's carries this fabulous honeycomb scrapbook paper, and I used that for everything!  It could not have been more perfect!

 I have never attempted a diaper cake, but I knew I wanted to make a diaper wreath once I saw this on Pinterest.  I used this tutorial to guide me.  It really was not hard at all!

 My friend, Kevin, gave me this beautiful beverage dispenser as a house-warming gift!  When he gave it to me it contained beer margaritas.  Just lemonade this morning ;)

 I have been seeing decorated water bottles all over Pinterest, and I thought this was a perfect reason to try them.  They looked so nice all lined up!

 Yancey Baby Bee!

 A shot of the table.  I served:

Honey Ham Biscuits

Egg Casserole

Cinnamon Sugar Bread (this tasted a lot like a Cinnamon Crunch bagel from Panera!)

Fruit Dip (I added a container of Cool Whip to this)

Mixed Fruit--pineapple, honeydew and cantaloupe

Honeycomb Cereal--I used  clear glass vase to display the cereal, and it looked SO cute!  There were paper cones to spoon it into as serving vessels--just a little different.

Yancey Baby Bee napkin rings

I had a lot of fun making all of the paper products for the shower.  They pretty much required lots of cutting and putting together.  I bought scrap booking adhesive squares and that's what I used to attach most everything.

To make a simple centerpiece for this table, I just stuck three of the paper cones full of Honeycomb cereal in a mason jar. 

Gifts to shower Susie and Baby Yancey with love!

I just love watching people open presents, particularly at baby showers :)  Joe's sister, Erin, took these pictures of present opening--she did a great job capturing everything!

I believe this was present #1: Bath Bombs for the mommy!

Joe's mom and sister gave Susie the bedding set she registered for--it is SOOO cute!

Susie's mom gave her a bag full of onesies with special messages on them: there was this Little Brother one, one about mommy, one about daddy, one about grandma, one about grandpa, and maybe one about auntie?  SUCH a cute idea!  He is SO loved already :)

Bumble bee plate and bowl!  This was part of my present.  There was another bumble bee bowl and plate.  It was all in a personalized LL Bean tote bag.

Opening a super fun basket full of goodies!

Susie posing with the cupcakes and the diaper wreath--her dining room paint color went with the shower theme SO WELL!

Time for cupcakes!

Bumble Bee Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake cupcake

Modeling Chocolate decorations

Pipe cleaners for antennae

Wilton edible googly eyes

3/4 of the soon-to-be-expanded Yancey family!

Susie and Joe and their moms :)

Susie and the grandmas and aunts :)

Favors--Thanks for celebrating Mommy to Bee and Baby to Bee!

I made these honeycomb pockets using my friend, Aimee's, Silhouette machine---it does ALL that cutting out!

Each pocket included two honey straws and a tea bag

I LOVED this shower theme--there were SO many good ideas out there!  Most of my ideas came from Pinterest.  I made a special board for this shower: Bumble Bee Baby Shower

Now we just sit tight until Baby Boy makes his arrival!!! 

Graham is Eight Months Old!!!

We kicked off Graham's eighth month with sleep training :(  To be honest, I don't mind too much getting up to feed him.  He is so sweet and snuggly, and I love that nursing soothes him so much.  But, i intellectually know he does not need to eat that much, or at all, at night!  Now, he's eating TWO tubs of food with 1/2 cup of cereal for dinner AND then nursing before bed!  He definitely does not need to eat at 9 or 10, so that is the first feeding we cut out.  Sometimes he will sleep all the way until 3, other times just until 1 or 2.  But, that is 6 hours which is "sleeping through the night," so I will feed him then.  He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 and then is up around 6 or 6:30.  That is a bit frustrating, but I know there's not much to do about it now, and eventually he will sleep later!

Graham LOVES people!  He has the cutest reactions to people paying attention to him.  He especially loves attention from Jackson and Jackson's friends :)  He is really happy...except for the typical 4:30-bedtime time frame :(  It's not too bad though: dinner, bath, and bed. It goes pretty quickly!  He has turned into quite a good napper!  He's pretty flexible if we are out and about catnapping in the stroller or car, and he doesn't get too cranky or anything if they aren't very long.  If we are at home, he is still in the awake-for-an-hour-and-a-half-and-then-asleep-for-an-hour-and-a-half routine. 

Graham is still eating up anything we give him!  He has a tub of fruit mixed with some oatmeal in the morning and then two tubs with some oatmeal in the evening.

We had several babysitters this month and that was rather hit or miss :(  Graham seems to give anyone laying him down other than me a hard time.  I'm assuming that is related to wanting to nurse before bed instead of having a bottle.  We are continuing to leave him with other people, so hopefully we won't have horrible separation issues like we did with Jackson...

I'm writing this pretty late (this is a backdated post), so it's hard to believe I will be writing Graham's NINE MONTH update soon...

Super Bowl Weekend!

 We had SUCH a busy and fun weekend!!!  On Friday night the Bashores came over for dinner, and that is always a good time :)  I tried a new recipe: Pretzel Honey Mustard Chicken, and it was a hit!  We also had homemade macaroni and cheese and Rachel brought cookie dough over to make cookies for dessert.  The kids played so well and everyone made it until about 10!  Jackson did fall asleep while sitting on the island leaning on me.  I wish we had a picture of that!  

On Saturday, Josh finished up a crazy busy work week by working from home :(  I took Jackson to his first birthday party at a "place."  By that I mean not at someone's house.  We went to his good buddy, Cole's, party at Kids in Motion.  It really was fun, albeit a little tricky to navigate with an infant...  Jackson had a great time jumping on the inflatables, but I want to take him back some time when Josh can come with us.  They had some really neat (but scary) looking inflatables that had huge slides and obstacle courses!  I couldn't get up there and climb with him since I had Graham, but I think Josh and Jackson would have a blast!  It was so cute watching all the little kids lined up at the tables for cake and juice--Jackson had a BLAST!  

From the party, we rushed home so we could go on a double date with Susie and Joe!!!  We got one babysitter at our house, and she watched all three kids.  We had a glorious evening!  We tried out the new steakhouse that just opened down the road, The All American Steakhouse, and it was SO good!  The food was all really yummy, the service was great, and the atmosphere was cozy.  All good dates end at Dairy Queen, right?  A lovely evening!

To finish out the weekend: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

 

The Bashores and Yanceys both came over and we had such a good time!  We made Pizza Bites, Cheesy Bread, and Banana Pudding.  Rachel and Jake brought Oreo Truffles, Buckeyes and Fat Dip.  Susie and Joe brought wings and a huge platter of fruit and fruit dip.  LOTS of yummy food is really what I am in this event for :)  Graham went to sleep not long after kick-off, and then I was able to just relax and enjoy our friends, food and commercials :)  The big kids played so nicely together--we even sent them upstairs so it would be less chaotic downstairs, and they had everything all cleaned up by the end of the game!